


Find Your Way Back Home

by FairythePigeon (Me_aGlorifiedPigeon)



Series: All Under One Roof and Related Alternate Versions [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Brotherly Bonding, Family Reunions, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Kid Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Kid Thomas Sanders, References to Depression, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23949988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Me_aGlorifiedPigeon/pseuds/FairythePigeon
Summary: In which Patton comes home six years earlier than in AUOR due to a startling discovery. His divorce isn't final yet, his liar of a wife is trying to get him back, and his relationships with his brothers are tentative at best.Still, he can't give up.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders & Thomas Sanders
Series: All Under One Roof and Related Alternate Versions [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725943
Comments: 9
Kudos: 80





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I was thinking about some of the things I had been debating before I started writing All Under One Roof and realized some of these would make GREAT Au of an Au fics!
> 
> So here ya go!

Patton could have cried as he came out of the airport and saw the family minivan waiting for him and Thomas. Mom had silver hair and was a round, squat figure. Dad had gone bald, and his thick glasses were new frames. When they spotted him, they waved enthusiastically, and Patton almost did cry.

"Look, Thomas, your grandparents are here," Patton said, placing a hand on Thomas' back and facing him in the direction of their family. Thomas stared with big, wide eyes then looked back up at him. Patton laughed. "I know, let's go meet them."

Their suitcases were small and light. Patton had packed their things quickly and without too much thought, and told Sarah to expect to see divorce papers from him soon. He had had enough of her and her overly controlling attitude, and if she thought she was going to get her nails into Thomas, she was dead wrong. His little boy was an angel.

"Mom! Dad!" Patton cried as he reached them, and hot tears finally did come down his cheeks as he threw himself into his mother's arms.

"Oh, Patty, baby," Mom sighed happily, hugging him tightly. Then she pulled away, smacking him playfully on the back of the head. "Nine years and not a single visit! How dare you, young man!"

"I'm sorry, Mom," Patton sniffled. "I really missed you."

"Oh, honey," Mom cooed. She hugged him again, tiptoeing so she could hook her chin over his shoulder. "I missed you too."

"Mama!" Patton pulled away and hugged Thomas to his side. He grinned. "This is Thomas."

"Hello, Thomas!" Mom greeted him happily. "I'm Grandma!"

"Hello," Thomas said politely. Shyly.

"Alright, bags are in the car. Hop on in, Kiddo, we'll get you home," Dad said. Patton looked at his father, feeling suddenly winded.  _ Home _ . He was going  _ home _ .

"I love you guys," Patton sobbed, hugging his father tightly.

"We love you too," Dad assured, wrapping Patton up in one of his oh-so-familiar bear hugs. Patton laughed.

"Where are the boys?" Patton asked, pulling away and looking for Virgil and Roman.

"Roman's only just got home from college! Freshman year really took the wind out of his sails, he's at home with Virgil," Mom explained.

"Hiya, Thomas. I'm your Grandpa," Dad said, getting down to Thomas's level. "Will you let me help you into the booster seat? It's a little old, so I hafta adjust it for you."

"Okay," Thomas agreed, getting a little more bold as he grew more comfortable with the knowledge that these elderly folk were important to his father.

"Do the boys know I'm coming?"Patton asked, as Mom began to fold up the banner.

"Well, we thought there might be a chance that you changed your mind. We didn't want to get their hopes up. I'll let them know on the drive home," Mom admitted. She dabbed at her eyes with her fingers. "Oh, honey, I'm so glad to see you. You haven't called in almost as long as I've been a grandma!"

"I'm sorry," Patton said miserably. "Sarah kept getting mad when I did- I see now that she wasn't a good person. I'm sorry I ever thought she'd changed."

"Oh, honey, you just wanna see the best in people. There's nothing wrong with that," Mom assured.

"Okay!" Dad called from the car, having finished adjusting the booster seat for Thomas. "We're all set to go!"

Patton almost cried all over again when the car pulled up in front of the house and he could see his childhood home standing over him. He turned away to help Thomas out of his booster seat, and when he turned around with his little kiddo on his hip, he saw a very, very small thirteen year old staring at him from the porch.

"Virgil!" Dad called. "Come grab Patton's bags, will you?"

The thirteen year old -Virgil? He was so  _ big _ now- hurried to the back of the car. Mom joined Patton in front of the driveway. "Did you miss it?"

"Of course I did," Patton said with a wet laugh. "It looks like nothing changed."

"That's because nothing has. You're always welcome to come back home, honey.  _ Always _ ," Mom promised. The front door swung open and a young man dashed out, yelling at the top of his lungs. Patton instantly recognized him and set Thomas on the ground.

"Roman!" Patton cried out, throwing open his arms.

"Patton-cake!" Roman shrieked in delight, practically pouncing on his older brother. He buried his face in Patton's shoulder, immediately weeping.

"Oh, Roman, I missed you!" Patton said, spinning his brother in a circle.

"Missed  _ me _ !? I was safe and sound at home, you were the one with that horrible bitch wife of yours-"

"Roman! My son is here, watch your language!" Patton protested, hurriedly going to cover Thomas' ears.

"Wha- Virgil doesn't mind if I curse, do you, Virgil?" Roman asked, turning to look at his little brother, who was already back at the porch with Patton's and Thomas' two small suitcases.

"Put a dollar in the swear jar," Virgil said, almost as if on instinct, without even pausing in his stride.

Mom chuckled. "Oh, you boys. I'm going to get started making us all some good lunch, okay? You boys just get settled in."

"And I've gotta head down to the flower shop! People are counting on us to sell beautiful floral arrangements, after all," Dad proclaimed. "Virgil knows the shop number if either of you have forgotten, and Thomas, Virgil is setting you up in Roman's room, in Remus' old bed! He's going to clean it right up for you."

Patton grimaced. "Is that safe? Are we sure he didn't leave…  _ anything _ behind?"

"If he did, I already got rid of it, Pat, don't worry. I sleep there too, you know," Roman reminded, an easy smile on his face. He turned to Thomas. "Hello, little Prince! I'm your Uncle Roman!"

"Um, hi. I'm Thomas," Thomas greeted.

"Prince Thomas! A valiant name! Now, let's go find your Uncle Virgil, huh? I bet he's putting your stuff away for you right now!" Roman proclaimed.

"What's val-yant?" Thomas asked.

"It means really, really brave!" Roman informed. Thomas blushed.

"I'm not that val-yant," Thomas said, trying to hide behind his shortly chopped bangs.

"Humble too! What a prince you are!" Roman cried out dramatically. "Do you want to go inside and watch a movie? My favorites are Disney."

"Can we watch Tangled?" Thomas asked, perking up. "I think Rapunzel's the val-yant-est."

"Oh, is that so? And why do you think that, Little Prince?" Roman asked.

"She followed her dreams, even though she was scared of her mom," Thomas said, bright and happy and a little too revealingly. Roman looked at Patton with raised eyebrows. Patton shook his head. They could talk about it later.

"Alright then, let's watch Tangled," Roman allowed, and Thomas excitedly followed his uncle into the house. Patton could just hear Roman saying, "But first, Uncle Virgil!" as the pair disappeared into the house. Patton smiled.

The house looked just the same as it always did. The porch swing had two round cushions. The walls were the same beautiful natural looking brown with white washed trimming. There were different flowers in the pots on the porch, but Patton had grown up watching Mom and Dad pick new and different flowers to decorate with all the time. If he let himself, he could just imagine he'd come home from a day at school, and would be soon greeted by his baby brothers. Patton sighed heavily. His brothers weren't kids anymore. Except for Virgil, they were all adults. Patton steeled himself and walked up the driveway, entering the house he'd left so, so long ago.

"So you're Patton," said the scrawny thirteen year old in Remus' old clothes.

"Yep, that's me! You're Virgil, huh? You're so big!" Patton marveled.

Virgil shrugged. "Mom says I'm probably gonna get really tall, since I'm taller than you guys were at my age."

"That's exciting!" Patton said.

"I mean, I guess. I'm not really interested in being super tall," Virgil admitted.

"Where's Thomas?" Patton asked, spotting the empty couch. He looked across to the kitchen, where Mom was working hard.

"He's upstairs in Roman's room. They're watching a movie on his laptop," Virgil explained.

"You didn't want to watch it with them?" Patton asked. Virgil shrugged.

"It's Friday. I have places to be," Virgil explained. Patton cocked his head.

"Like where?" He asked.

"I'm visiting Remus," Virgil explained.

"Oh," Patton stated. They stood in awkward silence for a bit, but after some time, Virgil walked away into the kitchen, pulling a basket off the table. Patton followed.

"Are you coming, Mom?" Virgil asked.

"You know that I would, honey, but Patton just got home. I'm gonna help him and Thomas settle in," Mom said. Virgil frowned.

"Last week you had to help  _ Roman _ settle in, and the week before the store had a mishap. Just say it if you don't want to visit Remus," Virgil accused. Patton widened his eyes and Mom froze in her work. She smiled sadly at Virgil.

"Pumpkin, I'm sorry to have given you or Remus that impression. I'll join you next week for  _ sure _ ," Mom promised. Virgil shrugged like it didn't matter to him, and began to head off with the basket.

Patton watched him go. "He's allowed to go by himself?"

"Of course! He's the most careful of you boys, after all. I don't think he's ever so much as skinned a knee," Mom said, clearly exaggerating. Patton nodded. The food on the stove hit him all at once. Smell, sight, sound- Patton's jaw dropped and his mouth watered.

"Wow, already? What is this?"

Mom laughed. "It's Virgil's recipe: spicy garlic stir fry."

"Oh? What meat do you put in?" Patton asked. Mom gestured to the pan on the next burner, just around her round figure and out of Patton's sight. He peeked around, and grinned. "Steak? This is really Virgil's recipe?"

"Yep! He says you should make the meat rare, but we aren't all little carnivores like him. I make it medium well," Mom explained. She turned to Patton. "Do you want the whole family to come and celebrate your return? Because we could just have a small dinner, or I can call up Logan and Janus. We can figure something out for Remus."

Patton was hit by a sudden wave of guilt at Janus's name. He nodded. "I'd love to see my brothers. It's been a long time."

"Then I'll call them," Mom said decisively. She stirred the vegetables a bit more. "Virgil misses them too. I think maybe he took on too many of their problems, and not enough of his own, because he's kind of aimless without them around."

"That doesn't sound healthy," Patton mumbled.

"I think he just needs a bit of direction. Maybe you can help him find something he likes to do," Mom suggested.

Patton hummed thoughtfully. He was already stuck thinking about seeing all his brothers together again in one room. Maybe he could finally apologize to Janus, even. They all deserved an apology, sure, but Janus did the most. He'd tried to tell him, after all.


	2. Bedtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and his nephew do some bonding. It goes shockingly well.

A cry in the night had Virgil leaving his bedroom to go to the bedroom Mom and Dad had him and Roman clean up for Thomas. It was only nine, but Virgil had left the legal adults on their own at around the same time Patton put Thomas to bed. That meant everyone else was in the backyard still, and he could hear Roman's loud stories through his open window.

So Virgil was the one who came into his new nephew's bedroom and peered through the darkness, seeing the little six year old hiccuping and crying.

"Hey, it's fine. It was just a bad dream," Virgil murmured, and his hand hovered over Thomas' back. His nephew practically jumped at him, wrapping his arms tight around his middle.

"It was scary," Thomas sniffled.

"Yeah. You want to talk about it, or do you want a distraction?" Virgil asked, sitting down on the bed. Thomas shifted and made himself more comfortable in his teenaged uncle's arms.

"Distraction."

"I'm seven years older than you, you know," Virgil began. Thomas sniffled out a curious sound. "Yeah, I'm thirteen. You're six."

"You're big," Thomas said.

"Sometimes," Virgil agreed. "I felt really, really small today."

"Why?"

"I haven't seen your Dad since I was four. I barely remember him," Virgil explained.

"Four is really little," Thomas whispered. "I was four two whole  _ years _ ago."

"Yeah, I bet," Virgil chuckled. "I bet lots of things make you feel small, huh?"

Thomas nodded, pressing his damp face into Virgil's stomach. Virgil chuckled. "Yeah, same here. You know, your other uncles are all a lot older than me. Roman and Remus are the ones closest to my age, and they're almost seven years older than me, like I am to you."

"They're  _ so old _ ," Thomas marvelled, his voice still slightly wet. Virgil smiled. He knew how to smile when someone needed it. He did it for Remus all the time.

"Yeah, Roman and Remus are almost  _ twenty _ , can you believe it?" Virgil asked.

"Twenty! That's two tens!" Thomas exclaimed. Virgil laughed.

"And your dad? Your dad's the oldest one, he's  _ twenty eight _ ," Virgil said, and with the hand he didn't have wrapped around Thomas he mimed an explosion coming out of his head. "Mind blown, right?"

"Twenty eight, that's- that's almost  _ thirty _ !" Thomas gasped, like he'd learned some enormous secret. "How old are Grandma and Grandpa?"

"They're older than sixty," Virgil informed gravely.

"But that's so close to a hundred! That's- that's  _ forever old _ !" Thomas exclaimed. He flopped backwards across Virgil’s lap, making himself incredibly comfortable. Virgil just grinned.

“Well, that’s a  _ good _ thing! Forever old means never ending! That means you’re going to have grandparents until  _ you’re _ older than sixty,” Virgil announced.

“No way, grandparents don’t have living grandparents. What would you even call them?” Thomas protested. Virgil frowned slightly, but he covered it up with a smile and grabbed Thomas around his middle, hoisting him up as he stood up.

“Well, I wouldn’t know. You can ask Uncle Logan when he shows up for the summer- he knows  _ everything _ ,” Virgil said, putting emphasis on his exaggeration.

“Everything?” Thomas asked, giggling as his youngest uncle carried him like a sack of rice in his crooked arm.

“Everything,” Virgil said, nodding. He carried Thomas out of the bedroom and towards the stairway.

“Where are we going?” Thomas asked, wrapping his arm around Virgil’s waist and bending his legs to keep them from being dead weight.

“Well, you had a nightmare, remember? That means it’s cocoa time,” Virgil proclaimed.

“I’m not supposed to have sugar after I brush my teeth,” Thomas whispered, like he was breaking a law of some sort and scared of getting caught.

“We’ll just brush your teeth again after,” Virgil said dismissively.

Thomas stuck out and arm and grabbed the banister before they began to descend, firmly halting Virgil in his tracks. “But- but the  _ rules _ .”

Virgil bit his lip and let Thomas down, sitting on the steps with his nephew. “What’s wrong, T?”

Thomas shrank back against the bannister, shaking his head.

“You can tell me. I won’t get mad at you,” Virgil said. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly what the problem was.

“Can I just go back to bed?” Thomas asked, voice small.

“I’ll do you one better,” Virgil said decisively. “I have a room, too, you know. And this is a new place, one you’re not used to. Might as well come share my bed with me for the night, yeah?”

Thomas hesitated for a moment, but he nodded. Virgil grinned. “Cool. Come on, it’s just this way. You can borrow Kitty for the night, if you want.”

“Kitty?” Thomas asked.

“She’s my comfort item. From when I was little like you,” Virgil informed, helping Thomas to his feet and leading him by the hand to his bedroom.

“Is she a cat?” Thomas asked, and his eyes lit up. Virgil laughed.

“Yeah. But I’m allergic to real cats, so she’s all I’ve got,” Virgil explained.

“I’m allergic too!” Thomas said, a look of awe on his face. Virgil held his bedroom door open, and Thomas’ awe tripled as he walked into the bedroom. Virgil had purple fairy lights on every wall, and the walls were all painted with chalkboard paint and covered in scribbles and notes. As Thomas wandered around and checked out his uncle’s cool bedroom, Virgil hurriedly wiped the angry words he’d written earlier that afternoon.

Thomas didn’t need to know how angry Virgil was with his dad for coming home. That was a personal thing.  _ Patton  _ shouldn’t even hear about it, it was all just for Virgil. He didn’t need to go putting that on everyone else’s plates.

“So, what do you think?” Virgil asked.

“I love your room! Can I get lights in my room too?” Thomas asked. Virgil laughed.

“They do scare off the closet demons. We’ll have to get you some before you can sleep in there,” Virgil proclaimed, flopping backwards onto his bed. He grabbed the comforter he’d pushed off to the side earlier and held it open, beckoning Thomas to join him. Thomas giggled and practically cannon balled into the mattress.

Thomas made himself comfortable in the bed under Virgil’s arm, tucked up against his uncle’s side, and looked up at him with big doe eyes. He was ridiculously quick to grow fond of his youngest uncle, and Virgil couldn’t help but smile at the kid again. “You were gone earlier. Dad says you went to go see Uncle Remus.”

“I did, yeah,” Virgil said.

“Can I go visit Uncle Remus?” Thomas asked.

“I’d have to go with you. I don’t have time except on Fridays,” Virgil explained. Thomas frowned.

“Why are you so busy?” He asked.

“I take care of your grandparents,” Virgil stated. Thomas rolled over, resting his chin on Virgil’s chest.

“Aren’t they adults? Why do you need to take care of them?” Thomas asked.

“I- well, I’ve always taken care of them,” Virgil said. He couldn’t really remember why he did it, just that he had been doing it ever since Roman went off to New York. “They’re getting older, they need the help.”

“But why you? Dad can help Gran and Grampa,” Thomas mumbled, yawning.

Virgil felt something uneasy crawling over his skin. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe Dad can handle ‘em. You can take me to see Uncle Remus,” Thomas’ voice trailed off as he fell asleep. Virgil stared up at the ceiling.

Why  _ did _ he busy himself taking care of his parents? He didn’t even know what to do with himself if he wasn’t worrying about Mom’s hip, or fussing about Dad’s diet. What did kids his age even do? He knew he was the only kid in his grade who has an actual job, so what did they do with all that free time? What did his brothers do when they were his age? Logan had pursued various studies, Roman did theater, and Virgil wouldn’t even  _ think _ about following Janus’ or Remus’ examples. Especially seeing as neither would want him too.

Thomas sighed in his sleep, disturbing Virgil’s train of thought.

Right, bedtime. Well, he might as well close his eyes and hope the crisis didn’t keep him from sleeping. He could always try asking Patton what  _ he _ did as a kid. He grimaced at the thought, but hey. He’d have to face his brother’s existence eventually.


End file.
